


Cold water, warm hearts.

by SyconSenti



Series: Hermitbrine AU [3]
Category: Hermitbrine au - Fandom, Hermitcraft RPF, Minecraft (Video Game)
Genre: Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Hypothermia, Just more excuses to shower Herobrine in love, hermitbrine au, lots of fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-08
Updated: 2020-09-08
Packaged: 2021-03-06 15:41:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,157
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26361334
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SyconSenti/pseuds/SyconSenti
Summary: Herobrine takes a train ride on the HRN. Then things go south.
Series: Hermitbrine AU [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2097114
Comments: 21
Kudos: 130





	Cold water, warm hearts.

The sun was beaming down on the shopping district, making the day pleasingly warm. Herobrine was using the time to explore his new home a bit, which would take a long while because of how much the hermits had built. He'd just about seen everything there is to see around their main commercial hub, and so was wondering just what to do next. His eyes drifted to the railroad that was built over many parts of the area, and he quickly decided his next course of action. Ren had apparently built most of the HRN himself, so it only felt right that someone should use it.

Herobrine climbed onto the tracks and began to make his way along the rail. He did not have a minecart, but he assumed that one would be available at the central station. As he made his way into the tunnel that connected the rail to the station, he paused to look out of the windows. Outside, several schools of fish and a few squid swam past lazily, and the background was broken by the bright outlines of the other tunnels. Herobrine watched a few drowned bump against some kelp, then broke away from the view and carried on.

It was slightly unsettling to be surrounded by water on all sides, but he pushed the feeling down, knowing that the tunnels were safe. No one had trapped the HRN during Demise, and most of the traps that had been laid were disarmed now the event was over anyway. Herobrine stepped into the short water elevator and bounced out into a room with red accents. From there, he decided to take a left and presently found himself in an identical room, except green. Then he shrugged and went down into the terminal, and sure enough found a minecart waiting for him.

In he hopped, and the minecart sped off along the tracks.

At first the view was the same from what he’s seen in the red tunnel, but soon enough the tracks burst out from the ground right into view of Scar’s landscaping shop. Herobrine found himself leaning out to take a closer look at all the landscapes that the Hermit had masterfully crafted together. All too quickly though, the minecart had taken him away and into a station. Herobrine decided to keep the minecart going to see where it would take him, and it carried on, taking a right and trundling out onto a railroad that separated the shopping district from what had been explained was once the battleground of a civil war. Unfortunately from his position, he didn't have that great a view of it, so he watched Scar’s glass shop, Iskalls concrete shop and a big crater of wool sweep past instead.

Then the minecart passed over a wall, and the building style suddenly turned a whole lot more rustic. Herobrine once again leaned out to take in the sights, being one that was rather fond of rustic houses himself. He was so engrossed in examining all the details that a sudden face full of leaves left him spluttering. Then suddenly he was dropping, and when he finally riders his vision of stray leaves he found himself back in the tunnels leading to the HRN.

Oh…

Instantly Herobrine deployed another minecart and carried on, rising back out of the tunnels and back into the medieval district. After gawping at a huge church and ducking under more obnoxiously positioned tree branches, he was soon leaving and on his way to a much more industrialized looking area. The minecart stopped at the station, and Herobrine jumped out and considered the other options. However, he then decided to simply swap the minecart over to the other rail to go back. For one he was rubbing tree leaves out of his eyes part way through the medieval section and wanted to see more, and he also wanted to take a look at the civil war area.

With a press of a button, he was off again.

Finally, after a few more minutes amongst the rustic houses, he could see the devastated landscape that had been the site of what he assumed to be much bloodshed. Many fires still burnt around the area, and the rail skirted around the edge and to the base of two large towers that rose from the middle of the grounds. Herobrine looked between the enormous bases that sat at the very ends of the battlefield, trying to decide who had built what base. The white one he was passing looked a lot more like some sort of water filter than a military base…

Then the minecart whisked him away back into the station. Not wanting to stop, Herobrine kept the cart moving, and soon was travelling out into an area that somewhat reminded him of Falsewell. In the distance a cluster of huge white quartz towers drew closer, and he quickly realised that the tracks led straight into them. 

Unfortunately the walls of the towers blocked any good view of what was inside, so Herobrine turned the cart around at the station to head back out. By that point the tracks turned right to go out onto a railroad that was built to look like a much larger track. From the vantage point Herobrine looked over the rest of the towers as well as a huge floating cookie, then shuddered as the air suddenly grew colder. A quick check around him alerted him to the cause; the sea surrounding the track was peppered with icebergs. He quickly decided to not stay in this place for long.

As he waited for the minecart to stop at the station he could see in the distance, his eye caught sight of a huge white snow tower on his left. He blinked at it, then looked away as the tower was hidden by the walls of the station. The minecart thudded to a stop just before a portal, and Herobrine stepped out of it, considering heading into the portal to escape the cold. However, he was committed to the minecart journey by now, and went to transfer the cart to the other track. But curiosity got the better of him and instead he made his way outside.

An examination of the station quickly led to the knowledge that it was built to resemble a giant train, fit for the giant tracks that the railway was built on. It was a rather whimsical idea, making him smile slightly. After figuring that out, he went around the back to take a closer look at the white tower. The sound of the waves below lapping at the beams that supported the railroad was soothing. What was not soothing, however, was the bitter cold that dug into his still too skinny frame. That and the sight of the icebergs floating in the water made him quickly decide that he'd seen enough of the south line. No place with ice was going to be toured by him. Not without some protection from the cold at least. 

Alas, the patch of ice under his feet had other ideas. As Herobrine spun around, his legs skidded out from underneath him, and he tipped backwards with a panicked cry. The edge of the railroad was briefly glimpsed above him before the freezing water closed over his head. The shock instantly made him gasp, which was always the exactly wrong thing to do in such a situation. _Every time_ he told himself, _don't breathe in the water or you will immediately panic._

But never had he managed to take his own advice. 

Herobrine sank deeper into the frigid waters until he hit the floor. There he kicked out against it, rising back towards the surface, but soon dropped back down once again. The panic was beginning to rise now. His chest burnt from the water that was trapped inside it, and no matter how much he tried to expel out, somehow more found its way in. The lack of oxygen meant his body was beginning to shut down. The light above him dimmed as he slowly lost consciousness. With one last burst of effort, he pushed himself off the seafloor again, and kicked as hard as he could to get back to the surface. 

The frozen smooth surface of an iceberg was felt, and Herobrine gripped onto it as best as he could. From there, he hauled himself to the surface and finally broke into the air. However, the steep smooth side of the iceberg was unyielding, making him struggle along the waterline to try and find a place he could get out of the water.

Eventually his hand hit a shelf of ice just above the water’s surface, and with the remaining strength he had, he dragged himself out of the freezing ocean, and into the even colder air above. He lay on the ice, shivering violently, and trying to muster the energy to begin coughing out all of the water he’d swallowed. Some liquid dribbled from his mouth, but he was still unable to take in much air.

Dimly, Herobrine reached for his communicator.

**<!-̠̤̮̜̫I͕̤͕͡€̢̯̮̻̯®̲°͇̪͚̻̳̥͞&͉̳͖̫͙͘r͚͉|̶̳̭͔̩̤π̗̠̯£̗ > -91 63 -160**

**<!-̠̤̮̜̫I͕̤͕͡€̢̯̮̻̯®̲°͇̪͚̻̳̥͞&͉̳͖̫͙͘r͚͉|̶̳̭͔̩̤π̗̠̯£̗ > help**

The device dropped from his hands and splashed into the water. He let his eyes close.

…

"...ine… uv… ere..."

…

"...robri…"

Herobrine twitched as a voice cut through the ringing in his ears. He could barely breathe, it was like his lungs were already full. Any attempts at moving were quickly thwarted by both an overwhelming feeling of weakness and the fact he seemed to be stuck to the ground he was laying on. 

"... ight back luv!" Some sort of noise punctuated through the fog, however he felt the presence of whoever it was disappear. Once again he was alone, wondering if he would ever escape this icy tomb of his. 

Something jamming under his body surprised him back awake. The person had returned, and was presently lifting him off of the ice. A feeling of fabric was wrapped loosely around his shoulders, and he was deposited into a boat, sitting right behind the mystery saviour who had come to his aid. Herobrine let himself dip back into unconsciousness. 

\--

**<!-̠̤̮̜̫I͕̤͕͡€̢̯̮̻̯®̲°͇̪͚̻̳̥͞&͉̳͖̫͙͘r͚͉|̶̳̭͔̩̤π̗̠̯£̗ > -91 63 -160**

**<!-̠̤̮̜̫I͕̤͕͡€̢̯̮̻̯®̲°͇̪͚̻̳̥͞&͉̳͖̫͙͘r͚͉|̶̳̭͔̩̤π̗̠̯£̗ > help**

"Wait? Dats right near here!" Stress was peering at the screen of her communicator, quickly puzzling out where exactly the server's newest cryptid had gotten himself into trouble this time. She quickly confirmed she was coming and stuffed the device away before running out of the door, taking into the air with the burst of a rocket. 

A few seconds of flying later, she circled down over the railway station, scanning the area for anything out of place. Her eyes caught sight of a splash of cyan on one of the icebergs, and she quickly dropped in to land next to Herobrine.

"Hey? Herobrine? Luv? You there?" Stress shook him gently, gasping when she felt just how cold he was, even to her ice magic encrusted hands. His breath was extremely shallow, and he appeared to not be conscious.

"Herobrine?" A spike of fear shot through her as once more she got no response. Then, Herobrine twitched very slightly. At this, Stress tried to lift him off the ice, but found that he was actually frozen in place. Plus, she wouldn't be able to fly back with him. A quick plan formed in her head.

"I'll be right back, luv!" She promised, taking off and flying back to the castle. She quickly grabbed a boat, then zipped back again and plopped it down in the water. Then she turned and gently began to chip Herobrine out of the ice. Mere minutes later, Stress had freed him, and quickly took off her cardigan to wrap it around his shoulders. Then she lifted him into the boat and began to paddle back to her castle.

When she got to the path leading to the entrance, Stress got out of the boat and turned around to grab Herobrine. Despite the size difference between them, she was easily able to haul him into her arms; a combination of her unexpected strength and the fact Herobrine weighed much less than one should. From there, she set off towards her castle, eager to get him to somewhere warm. Her path took her to the spiral staircase, and straight through the door on the other side and into the huge entrance hall beyond. She hurried to the fireplace and carefully set Herobrine down before it, and winced as he flopped over lifelessly.

"Herobrine? Luv? Stay with us please!" Stress looked into his eyes, but they were dull and unfocused. He appeared to be completely out. She hoisted him into her arms once again, not knowing what to do in such a situation. Luckily, help arrived just at that moment when a lime green blur sped into the hall and proceeded to pinball around the numerous magenta hanging lights that covered the ceiling. With a distressed yelp, Iskall clumsily crashed into a wall and slid to the floor, laying there stunned for a second before shaking it off. He then made his way over to where Stress and Herobrine were sat and kneeled down before them.

"Hallo Stress. Is he okay?" 

Stress shook her head. 

"He ain't responding to me. And he's supa cold! What do I do Iskall?" Iskall gently took Herobrine from her arms and looked him over. His skin was worryingly pale, and he could barely detect his breathing. He pressed his ear against his chest. For a terrifying moment, he heard nothing. However then Herobrine's heart performed a weak and muffled beat, making him sigh in relief. Iskall slowly lowered the listless body to the floor, trying to figure out what the next course of action would be. 

"Hey Stress? Where did you find him? In the ocean?" He asked.

"On an iceberg. But he wos wet so I guess he wos in the woter before." Stress explained.

"Ah. That explains his communicator." Iskall mused, taking out said device. "It was just floating in the water. But anyway, the bigger concern is Herobrine being in the water at all. The guy can't swim."

"Oh. Oh no!" Stress looked extremely stressed out. "Is he drowned then?"

"Only one way to find out." Iskall exclaimed grimly. He gathered Herobrine into his grasp with his hands locked together under his ribcage. Then, with one rough movement, he squeezed the cryptid tightly. In an instant a burst of water shot out of Herobrine's nose and mouth, and he spluttered and coughed before sucking in a huge breath of air. Then he began coughing again, trying to rid his lungs of any leftover fluid. Iskall kept a tight hold of him, making sure to pat and rub his back to try and help him along. 

Herobrine finally opened his eyes fully to try and see what was around him. His vision was blurry and fractured, the individual spots of light swimming around one another but never converging. He groaned, his body going limp once more. At least he could breathe again. The influx of oxygen was reawakening his hibernating organs, and slowly he made more sense of the world around him. It seemed Iskall was the one currently holding him, and Stress was just off to the side, watching him intently. The bright blob was a large fireplace that was bathing him in heat. In that moment Herobrine wanted nothing more than to curl himself into the flames and fall asleep. He even shuffled towards them slightly, but Iskall's grip was too tight to allow much movement. 

"Hey Hero… you doing okay there?" He asked. Herobrine shrugged weakly. 

"You gave me a scare then, luv!" Stress exclaimed, scooping him into a hug out of Iskall's arms. "You're so cold! And all wet! We can't av that! Stay here I'll be right back!" 

With that, Stress let go of Herobrine and elytra'd her way to a balcony above. He watched her go, then shifted closer to the fire until he was almost sitting in it. Iskall watched him carefully, ready to pull him back should he find himself in any sort of trouble. He was just about to do so when Stress reappeared, carrying a mug and a few pink bundles under her arms.

"Aurrite. First fings first. Wet clothes need to go." She set the items down and dragged an unwilling Herobrine away from the flames, before proceeding to pull his shirt off and toss it aside. Herobrine shuddered, an action mirrored by both Iskall and Stress when they took in the sight of his emaciated and scarred body. Stress quickly grabbed one of the bundles and shook it out into a towel, and then wrapped it around his shoulders to dry him off. Herobrine felt safe enough to let his eyes close, and soon he was slumbering peacefully as Stress and Iskall finished buttoning the new dry clothes they had managed to get him into. The clothes in question being the soft magenta Allimoo onesie Stress had from her flowery cow infestation a few weeks back. Both Hermits were were giggling at how adorable Herobrine looked in it. 

Eventually Stress finally made herself stop, and instead shook him awake.

"Hey gorgeous! I got you a drink!" 

Herobrine blinked slowly, and took the mug she was offering him. He sipped at the liquid inside, then began to drink it when it turned out to be nice and sweet. The warm liquid soon began to work it's magic, and in the next few minutes Herobrine began to shiver again. Iskall and Stress busied themselves with making sure he was comfortable while his body warmed back to it's usual temperature. Stress even went and got him another hot drink when she saw how much he'd enjoyed the first.

"It's just cocoa!" She'd explained. "Nothing more!" 

"Don't give him too much now! He… uh…"

Iskall trailed off halfway through whatever warning he was trying to give while looking at Herobrine. "Nevermind."

"Wos about to say, Iskall." Stress snorted. Iskall chuckled sheepishly, then sat down while smiling into the flames of the fireplace. 

By that point Herobrine was falling asleep yet again. He dimly felt himself get lifted off the hearth and carried away, only to quickly be laid down and tucked into somewhere warm and soft. The last thing he saw before drifting off to sleep was two happy faces, chatting and regarding him with nothing but the warmest adoration. The Hermits… they were so amazing. In what they could do, yes, but more importantly, in who they were. A community that accepts anyone with open arms, and lives them no matter what.

Herobrine was determined to some day repay the kindness somehow. But, right now… time to just… sleep.


End file.
